


Blinded By You

by Angelicat2



Series: Sheith Month 2019 [9]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Blind Keith (Voltron), Hurt Keith (Voltron), Hurt Shiro (Voltron), Krolia (Voltron) is a Good Parent, Permanent Injury, Post-Season/Series 06, Quintessence-sensitive Keith, Sheith Month 2019, Touch-Starved Keith (Voltron), and so is shiro, day 11-free day, the Black Lion is helpful in guiding Keith
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-09
Updated: 2019-07-09
Packaged: 2020-06-25 09:39:43
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,645
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19743046
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Angelicat2/pseuds/Angelicat2
Summary: During the fight with Shiro, the blade did a little more damage than in canon, leaving Keith blind. But he's not completely blind, now that he can seemingly sense quintessence.





	Blinded By You

**Author's Note:**

> Honestly, I live for blind Keith fics, especially if they take place after Keith gets into the fight with Shiro's clone. Enjoy.

Keith fought off his friend's advances. His arms screamed in pain from both the previous battle with Shiro and the current one as said paladin pushed on him. Keith was bruised and battered, with multiple hurt ribs. His body ached in too many places to count. He wasn't invincible. Shiro held a blade of light in his hand. It was so bright that Keith could only see bright red on his right side. The plasma blade was steadily inching closer to his face as his arms started to fail him, too shaky from injuries and intense emotions.

But the worst thing was the cold glare in those steel eyes. Those eyes that had always been so warm to Keith. The same eyes that had seen something in a very troubled teen. The same ones that Keith swore he'd protect at all costs. As many times as it takes. 

“Shiro, please,” he pleaded, seeing only eerie frost in those once warm orbs, “You're my brother! I...I love you!”

The man froze for a second. Keith thought he was back, at least a little bit, before he growled and pushed harder downward, saying that the others were dead. His friends, his wolf, his mother...Keith could feel his arms shaking as the pressure increased. Closing his eyes as pain flared through his face, he screamed as the blade touched down by his eye. Or maybe it was on his eye. Either way, everything burned so much. It felt like his whole body was in flames. Even with his eyes closed, it burned underneath his eyelid and vaporized any tears Keith may have had. Letting out another cry of agony, something snapped in him as he opened his eyes, not caring about the intense heat. With a loud snarl, Keith called the black bayard to hand as he slashed off the man's arm. Said man stared at him in shock before he collapsed onto the metal disk they were stationed on. Everything tilted as Keith's vision blurred. Tears littered his right eye, but he gave it no mind as he caught Shiro's body. Before he was aware of it, they were falling.

Everything turned black.

…..

Shiro was back. Shiro was okay. Shiro was resting. Shiro was-

Everything tilted. Keith felt extremely weak, barely able to stand. Everything hurt. His back was bruised from his falls and the tackle Shiro's clone had used in the fight. His ribs hurt every time he breathed to the point that he debated whether it was worth the pain to draw in his next one. His arms ached from catching the platform and fighting with the clone. His jaw hurt from where the clone punched him. His cheek hurt so badly like the blade was still pressed to it, only blistering worse when sweat slid onto the wound.

And his eyes burned. It centered on his right eye. His eye constantly had tears in it and it felt like it was filled with dirt. He blinked it very few seconds. It didn't help. Black dots swam on the edge of his vision.

Exhaustion crashed into his body as he felt his world shift to the left. Black exploded in his vision as he shifted too far.

“KEITH!” Someone...multiple people? shouted in fear.

Blinking at the blurry images above him, he wasn't sure who it was as the pain grew. Something cool touched his face and he leaned into it, trying to get more of it. It felt like water in a hot dry desert. He wasn’t sure if he was laying down or standing up but everything hurt hurt hurt.

“Fever...wrong...his eye…” he only caught bits of the conversation as he started to fade, too tired to stay awake anymore, adrenaline no longer running through him, “Shiro…one pod...both might die...share…”

Everything faded to darkness.

…..

When Keith slowly woke up, everything was pitch black. His eyelids felt heavy like something was covering them. Moving his hands upward, his fingers skimmed a rough surface he knew well. A bandage.

“It's okay,” a voice answered calmly, but Keith couldn't focus on it as the fight with Lotor ran through his head. Bits and pieces of his fight with Shiro bled through to his brain as he bolted upright, moving his arms around in a panic. Hands pinned him down by the shoulders as he tried to pull the bandages off. He needed to find him. He needed to know where Shiro was. He wanted to know if Shiro was okay. 

He fought off the hands, thrashing and moving. Dull pain echoed in his body, but he ignored it for the current panic he was going through. Where was Shiro! He couldn’t have lost him! Was it all a dream? Was Shiro...Was Shiro still...

“Shiro,” Keith called out as he rolled right only to be stopped by another hand which only caused him to freak out more. He wasn't used to this many people touching him, “Shiro!”

“Shiro's okay,” someone grabbed his hand before guiding it to someone's skin, a dip in the middle as warmth greeted Keith's digits. He calmed steadily, breath uneven, “He's right here by your side.”

“What,” Keith licked his dry lips as it registered that another bandage was on his cheek where he'd been burned, “What...happened?”

“You got hurt,” Allura spoke up softly as Keith turned his head to where he guessed she was, “We patched you up, but you'll need some time to heal.”

That wasn't what he was talking about. Luckily, Krolia spoke up as a hand ruffled his hair.

“The clone's body is not accepting him,” Keith swallowed as he ignored the pain creeping up on him, “You two are sharing the only pod.”

“You have to help Shiro,” Keith begged as he strained to listen to his best friend's breathing, “I'm fine.”

“Keith-”

“You have to,” Keith continued as he patted his hand down further to make sure Shiro was still alive, placing it to the cool metal of the breast plate which was moving...shallowly, “You have to help him.”

“We will,” Allura reassured as a hand gripped his other hand, “But you need to take it easy. Your eye got damaged, and we're not sure if you'll be able to see, but we need to keep the bandage on you and keep you calm.”

“Okay,” Keith let out a breath as he felt Shiro's heartbeat even through the armor on the older man's chest, “You can't imagine all he's done for me.”

“I'll stay to watch over them,” Krolia spoke up as Keith felt fingers brush his hand, “Make sure Keith stays still.”

“And I'll stay in case my alchemy can help,” the princess muttered as Keith started to fall asleep, “Perhaps I can do something.”

“And we'll grab the…” everything faded again as Keith fell asleep again.

…..

A beeping noise woke Keith up. Coming awake, he frowned when he felt something on the tips of his fingers. It was a strange feeling, almost like the energy he'd felt from the Blue Lion. Something was wrong. 

It was even more evident when Keith noticed that no one was nearby. He wasn't next to Shiro nor was he in the pod anymore. He couldn't hear anyone else. Brushing his hand out, it only hit cool air. He couldn't even hear his wolf. About to shout to see if anyone would answer, another roll of energy passed through him. Concentrating, Keith let it lead him to the source.

Stumbling to his feet, Keith wandered mindlessly towards the energy calling him. Blindly moving around, Keith slapped his hand against the door which slid open. He heard the whispers and sounds, but whatever called to him had all of his attention.

His wolf let out a small whine as Keith walked forward. The whispering went silent as Keith moved on, too focused on the energy. Running his fingers along a smooth container, he realized that it was a pod. Shiro must have been inside. Something was wrong. Very wrong.

“Fight,” Keith pleaded as he slammed his fist on the strong glass, “Don't do this to me again.”

“Keith,” a hand landed on his shoulder but he shook it off as the glass dissolved away. Keith pulled his hand back as he listened.

“I was dreaming, Keith,” Shiro's voice was weak as he spoke, “You saved me.”

Keith threw himself down by Shiro, almost hitting his knees, before somehow hugging Shiro as if he could see him. Happiness burst within his chest as he gathered the other closer, pressing his cheek to his neck.

“We saved each other.”

The energy curled around Keith before settling into a vague shape that must have been his first true friend. He couldn't see it, but he knew it was there. Soon, other dots of energy ran up to them.

The others were there.

…..

“How are we going to run Voltron now that we are down two leaders?” Keith listened as the whole group met for a talk. The pain in his body had eased after a day of rest, so now he mainly felt sore. The bandages were still on his face though, “Shiro's missing an arm and Keith can't see anything.”

“Maybe Keith can see through the lion's eyes,” Shiro spoke from Keith's side as Keith glanced his way, still feeling the throb of energy inches from him, “Like I did back when we first did the training.”

“It could work-”

A loud sound echoed around the room as the lion shook. Keith had no idea what was going on, but he knew it wasn’t good. Shooting to the seat and taking the controls into hand, Keith dived to the side blindly as more explosions rang out. He could hear his wolf in the background teleporting everyone else to their respective lions as the battle raged on. Diving to the left, Keith almost slammed into something but pulled up in time with one of his teammate’s warnings. Hearing Hunk panicking in the distance, he focused on the energy around him until he located the one that felt almost like a sunny plateau. Once he located it, he burst forward into the object, cutting whatever was behind the Yellow Paladin in ropes.

“Thank you, Keith!” Hunk shouted as he moved to the right, “Wait...How did you-”

“No idea,” Keith answered back as something very familiar tugged on them. Tractor beam. Keith tried to get out of it, but the pull was too strong. He almost got out before something within him burst, and he grabbed his head as his senses were overwhelmed. A hand rested on his shoulder, which helped ground him as he grunted as another wave crashed over him. All sounds became unbearably loud until his skull hurt too much to even think. He could smell every scent in the room, including the one by his side that screamed of home and familiar things and races in the desert. The paladin armor he was in scraped uncomfortably against his skin until Keith thought it would be rubbed raw. His eyes burned again as he bit his lip, stifling his cries.

“Keith!”

The Black Lion shook again as Keith let out a silent scream of pain. Crumbling to the ground, he soon passed out as another explosion rocked the large ship. The last thing he felt was the hand on his shoulder as something held him close.

…..

As he came to this time, someone was rubbing their hands through his hair soothingly. Keith whimpered as a flare of muted pain ran through his body. He shivered as he rested his head back on whoever was behind him. Everything was hazy as he relaxed a little as the same hands - Krolia - moved his bangs back. Somehow...he could tell it was her. He could smell it, the foreign smell that he was beginning to see as home too. It was much different than the scent directly behind him, so Shiro must have been the one he was laying against.

“Why does he still have a fever?” Someone - Pidge maybe - spoke up as Keith let out a breath, “It was gone before this. It shouldn’t have come back.”

“Yeah, well,” Shiro stated darkly as the hands in his hair slowed down but didn’t stop, “He didn’t exactly get injured the normal way.”

“Not…” Keith frowned as the whole group went eerily silent as he licked his chapped lips, “Not your fault.”

“Keith-”

“No,” Keith spoke up a bit louder before wincing at the noise, “Wasn’t you. Not your fault.”

“You’re going to be stubborn about this, aren’t you?” Shiro responded fondly as Keith nuzzled into his front better, “How are you feeling?”

“And no lying about it,” Krolia spoke up as Keith buried his face further out of their sight. Those two years in the abyss had taught Keith more about his mother. In return, she had learned a lot about him like how much Shiro meant to him and how he had lived his life. Which also included the fact that Keith had been alone so long that hiding his pain was a normal.

“Not good,” Keith shivered again, but for a different reason this time. On the edge of his ‘vision’, he felt something flicker and form. He stiffened as a new scent that had been there the whole time strengthened around the room. It was like a citrus orange, but more...foreign and tangy. Someone was just feet away from them, energy pulsing mutely. Keith knew it wasn’t a friendly person. But- 

“Where’s everyone at?” He asked with a note of fear in his voice as something rubbed the nape of his neck, almost making him moan at the contact that didn’t hurt this time, “Who’s here?”

“Everyone is here,” Hunk responded before he paused, “Except for Coran. Not sure where he’s at, but I think they missed him.”

“I think he’s back with the lions,” Krolia spoke as Keith turned his attention to the person in the corner, knowing that no one else knew they were there, “I didn’t see him.”

“Guys,” Keith tried to get their attention, but they kept talking. Feeling the energy sneaking closer every few ticks, he tested his hands. They weren’t linked together, unlike the others. Waiting for the right moment, Keith slowly got to his feet. Everything was shaky as he tested his walking ability. Unsurprisingly, he almost collided against Shiro who had gotten up without the use of his hand.

“Keith!” The group shouted in concern, but Keith ignored them as he stumbled after the person who was getting close to Pidge. Keith couldn’t let the Green Paladin get hurt, so he quickly threw himself at them as he braced himself for impact. A flash of light filtered into his vision of a bright orange outline of a very shocked alien.

One of Lotor’s generals. The one with the long thing on her head.

Both crashed to the ground as the others scattered to the prison walls. Keith groaned as someone grabbed him by the hair. He could practically hear the glare the others sent her way as she held him hostage.

“I don’t quite get why he could tell I was there,” she replied as the door opened and a new person stepped inside, “But it is interesting.”

“That it is, Ezor,” the husky voice responded from the doorway as Ezor shook his collar as one of the others took at step closer, “Not a step closer.”

“Yeah,” the smaller woman alien responded as she twisted Keith’s hands behind his back, “I was aiming for the little one, but the blind one will do.”

“Let him go,” Shiro stated under his breath as Keith got an idea in his head. If only he could get a kick in, maybe he could jump away in time-

“No,” the other responded as Ezor pulled his arms up further until they hurt, something creaking, “We want to know where you’ve been and what happened to Lotor. You’re going to tell us.”

“What…” Hunk spoke up with surprise in his tone, “What do you mean “where we’ve been”?”

“Lotor is dead,” Keith hissed as he felt his arms twisted even further until he heard a pop and pain spiked on his shoulder. He could practically feel the anger from the team at the two aliens. 

“We're not falling for that,” the larger stated as Keith felt her step closer to him, “Tell us where Lotor is and where you've been.”

“Or your friend gets a little more injured.”

Keith could feel claws on his left cheek as Ezor grabbed his arms with one hand. Just as the hand moved down to his throat, and nails dug into his soft skin, an alarm rang out.

“Must be the other Altean,” Ezor spoke up as Keith let out a small breath. Before he was aware of anything, the alien shoved him and he fell against the floor by the others’ feet. The door slammed shut as the two left the cell. Keith groaned when he pulled his arms back around as pain raced through them. 

“You okay, man?” Hunk asked as Keith nodded, getting his arms underneath him. 

“We have to get out of here,” Krolia spoke as a hand landed on his shoulder, “We'll ambush the next person who walks in.”

So they gathered around the door to wait for someone to enter the cell. Even without his sight, Keith was sure the team was sending him concerned looks as he held onto the wall. He also liked to think at least half of the stares came from a worried Shiro. A moment of silence rang out before there was a loud bang. Everyone got into a fighting stance except Keith. He felt the tiny dots of energy as the door began to open.

“It's the mice!” Allura exclaimed as the dots of energy crawled over the Altean. A few clicks sounded off so the rest must have gotten the cuffs off. Taking off down the hallway, Keith followed them as they rushed down the hall. Soon enough, they ran into Coran, who seemed a mess...maybe a bit concussed too. A few hallways down, everyone stopped at what Keith guessed to be the room holding their bayards. They began whispering, wondering how to get inside to get the bayards without any weapons. Keith stood on the other side by himself, something bright in his 'vision' a few feet behind him. Two other dots told him there were guards inside too. Taking a deep breath in, Keith concentrated on it. The energy zipped from there to his hand without a problem as the group fell silent, probably shocked as the Black Bayard formed in his hand.

He rushed in, forming his sword with a shout.

It was rough. The energy only told him where a hand was swinging at him if he really concentrated. But soon enough, he took down the two and deactivated his bayard. He could feel and hear the others coming inside, too shocked to say anything at he locked his bayard into the suit’s storage unit.

“How’d you get to us?” Pidge asked curiously as she and the others grabbed their stuff. Someone handed him his helmet, which he put on.

“I had some help,” Coran exclaimed from the doorway, “One of Lotor’s generals helped me out.”

“Wait,” Keith spoke as he moved towards the door, “I’m going to help her. You guys get to the lions and be ready to leave.”

“Keith!” He heard the shouts behind him as he rushed out of the room. It was strange, but anything that wasn’t alive and filled with quintessence didn’t show up on his “sensing” radar. Many times, Keith had to redirect himself to not run into a wall. The whole ship gave off a slight hum that guided him, but he didn’t have enough experience yet to feel the difference between the shifts. Running around the corner, he ran up beside a lone signature, blocking another person’s hit.

“Look who found us,” the one from before laughed as Ezor joined in with her own message, “Is this the paladin you always save?”

“It’s practically true love,” the bigger teased wickedly and Keith was done with this. He had a team to get back to.

“Can’t we fight already!” He threw himself at Ezor, knowing that the one he’d freed a long time ago from the Weblem could take on the bigger. Ezor couldn’t hide from him with her cloaking, and she knew it as she landed a punch to his chestplate. Keith went flying into the metal wall as he gasped. Moving just in time, he heard his opponent cry in pain as she smashed her hand into the metal. Ducking further away, he felt the other woman by his side as the two other generals stood yards away from them. Getting an idea, Keith called for the Black Lion in his mind. Slipping beneath the alien woman's punch, he dashed across the room before he quickly grabbed the hand of general who helped them. Tugging her forward, she seemed to understand as a deafening sound ripped through the air as they both raced away, explosions taking out the room behind them. 

Both got sucked out into space as screams echoed around them. Keith could feel the lion swallow them down before it rushed away, the other four right behind it. Keith quickly bumped his way up to his chair before taking a seat. Pushing the yoke forward, he guided the lion far away, to the depths of space. He didn't think anyone would follow them out, but he didn't want to test it.

"Everyone okay?" He asked the open comms. No one was in the Black Lion with them besides the cow and the mice and- 

Something rippled into existence, ozone thick in the air. A large snout pushed its way into his hand as his wolf plopped its head on his leg.

"Good boy," Keith whispered before tuning into his teammates, who were shouting. 

"How did you do that, man?" Hunk asked as Keith brushed his hand through thick fur, "It's like you can see! Wait...can you see? How is that possible? Guys!"

"How did you call your bayard?" Pidge demanded curiously, "None of us have been able to."

"Guys," Keith sighed as he stopped himself from brushing his hand over his eyes, "I...have an idea of what's going on, but maybe we can land somewhere before going into this?"

"That sounds like a good plan," Shiro spoke before he hummed softly, "Alright, let's get out of here. Where's the nearest planet or asteroid we can go that the Galra ship won't find us?"

"There's one nearby," Coran uttered before there were a small series of clicks, "If my calculations are correct...I still have a bit of a banged up head, I'm afraid. I think I'm seeing dutelos."

"Maybe you should rest," Romelle blurted out as the Black Lion poked at Keith's mind, urging him onward, "I'll get you something to help with...that."

Keith basically toned them out as he let the lion take control. If he thought what was happening was really going on, it would complicate things. And explain a lot. 

…..

They all landed on the asteroid Coran talked about. On the way, Keith had muted the system from his end, turning his attention to the woman who had helped them escape. He couldn't see her, but he could feel her there even with her being completely silent. It was the same the he remembered from the Weblum, and those missions when they faced Lotor. But something was different about her. Her energy seemed stronger, more sure. More...at peace. Or that is what Keith thought at least.

"Uh...thanks," he stated awkwardly as his wolf whined softly, drawing his attention, "For saving us. It must have been hard...going against your friends."

"It was," she spoke as the lion landed, "I will explain when everyone else is with us. I think you guys deserve an explanation and some information about what has been happening."

"Sounds good," Keith shrugged as he stood, making sure to hold onto his wolf, "We better get out there."

Everyone met in a cave. Or Keith thought it was a cave. No one actually said it was one, but it was chilly and had only one entrance, with breathable air. Almost like the space whale. Someone had a fire set up when he got there, and a gentle hand rested on his shoulder, guiding him to a seat before that person also took a seat on his right.

Shiro. Keith smiled softly as he felt the heat from the flames in front of him. Shiro was always guiding him.

"So what's your theory?" Pidge asked right away, not even giving anyone a chance to sit, if the dots of energy standing further away were any indication. He could hear people sitting down nearby, along with the mice and his wolf.

"I'll tell you in a minute," Keith took in a deep breath as he pushed on, "But can we take off the bandages? I think...I don't think I need them anymore."

"Is that smart?"

"I mean, we should probably check them anyway…"

"Infection...and it could damage…"

"Guys!" Shiro yelled as Keith placed his hands over his sensitive ears, "I think we should. If Keith feels up to it, we can take it off."

"I agree with Shiro," his mom spoke up as Keith let out a tiny sigh of relief, "Taking off the bandages won't harm him anymore than what's already been done. We need to check anyway."

“Alright,” Allura spoke up as she moved closer to Keith. It was strange that Keith could feel exactly where she was at, and somehow could tell it was her. He could even feel the moment she reached out her hand to start getting the bandages off, “I’m taking them off now, Keith.”

“Okay,” he replied simply, letting her remove them. Keith took a deep breath in before opening his eyes, blinking them to get used to the feeling of having them open. The others gasped, but Keith didn’t know why. All he saw was darkness still, “What?”

“Your eyes…”

“What about them?” Keith asked as he raised a brow. It’s not like he could tell what his eyes looked like now. Not now that he was blind.

“They...changed,” Lance spoke up as the others stayed quiet, “Like...really changed.”

“Is it that bad?”

“No,” Shiro reassured him as the man’s shoulder bumped his, his blob of energy right by his side, “It’s not bad. It looks like the sunset, really. I think they look good.”

“Of course you’d say that!” Lance exclaimed as Keith winced before he lowered his voice, “You have no pupils, dude!”

“Uh...okay?” Keith didn’t get why he was freaking out.

“Your eye color stayed the same,” his mom took over with much more grace in her voice, calm and caring, “But there is a golden tint in the middle like a sunset, as Shiro put it. And the sclera on your eyes are yellow, not white.”

“Like the time you went Galra,” Shiro whispered, but it was loud in Keith’s ears. Keith twisted to the older with surprise on his lips.

“You remember?”

“Yeah,” Shiro responded back sheepishly before something brushed the side of his cheek, feather-light. Shiro’s hand, “It’s hard not to when there’s proof of it on your face.”

Keith knew he meant the scar and the eyes. Keith roughly tugged on the man’s arm, pulling it to his chest.

“Not your fault,” he glared at where he assumed Shiro’s eyes were. He must have gotten the right spot because the others made a tiny shocked sound, “I’m going to keep reminding you until you get it.”

“Okay,” Shiro chuckled softly, resting his forehead on Keith’s arm, “Okay. We’ll work on it. As many times as it takes.”

Keith grinned happily. Someone coughed off to his left.

“So how did you know where things were?” Pidge asked as she moved forward. Keith turned to her, “Okay, how are you doing that?”

“I…” Keith blinked before closing his eyes, paying attention to the energy around him. Each person had a unique presence, he just had to connect it to each, “Romelle is the closest to the door, my wolf is next to Hunk, and...Acxa is on my left?”

“Whoa, how?”

“I don’t know,” Keith shrugged as he opened his eyes, “I can’t see anything, but I can tell where things are...as long as they have quintessence? Things that don’t have it kinda, aren’t there? I don’t know.”

“So you can tell we’re here?” Coran spoke up with curiosity in his voice, “Can you sense the lions?”

“Yeah?” Keith could feel them as five large dots outside, just waiting patiently, “It’s hard to describe, but it’s like...each person has a different quintessence signature, and I can tell who is what and where. And sometimes, I can get images? That’s how I knew…”

“Ezor,” Acxa provided.

“Ezor was there,” Keith continued as he rubbed an eye tiredly, “Something shifted when we got caught. That’s why I passed out.”

“And why your fever came back,” Pidge sighed irritatedly, “Of course. It makes sense.”

“What makes sense?” Lance questioned as Romelle asked at the same. Keith could only guess that both looked at each other after that.

“The Galra have better senses, right, Krolia?”

“Yes, we have much better senses like hearing and smell than humans,” she spoke up before her hand ruffled Keith’s hair. Her scent drifted over him as he leaned into the touch. 

“And could...could Keith be sensitive to quintessence?”

“I suppose,” she brushed her fingers through the bangs, almost making Keith groan at the contact. It felt good as he leaned further into the touch, “It’s not impossible. People being sensitive to quintessence is super rare but not unheard of.”

“So...what if Keith’s been using his human side this whole time?” Pidge muttered as if in mid-thought, “And now his Galra side has come through because it’s needed more. It’s like the idea that when someone fully human becomes blind, their hearing and other senses make up for it.”

“Oh, I see where Number Five is going,” Coran gasped as he probably waved his arms about, “So his Galra side is much better at picking up quintessence than his human side, hence why he can ‘see’ now. He must also be able to use his other senses like hearing and smell.”

“Great,” Keith mumbled as he yawned tiredly, “But how am I going to get it to work the way I need it to? We’re in the middle of a war. I can’t exactly take time off to figure it out.”

“Well,” Hunk suddenly stood up as Keith’s wolf huffed at being shifted before he poofed out of there and the trail appeared in front of him. Keith petted the large dog as soon as he formed, “We can all help him out? I mean, I’m sure he can do the exercises in the lion while we fly back to Earth? Like...to get a feel for this all? There is still a war, right? I don’t know about you guys, but the way they spoke earlier made it sound like we were gone a long time?”

“Because you were,” Acxa answered as they all fell silent. Keith stifled another yawn into the silky fur in front of him, “You’ve been gone three years. After we got...ejected from Lotor’s machine, we left to get to a ship. We were a distance away when we saw you guys vanish from sight. There was no more Voltron, no paladins, and no Lotor. The Galra Empire split into factions. It’s been...chaotic.”

“And why did you help us?” Shiro asked, a tiny bit of judgement in his tone. Keith rolled his eyes but smiled nonetheless. There was Shiro’s protective streak, “Why not continue with your friends?”

“Because I’ve figured out that I don’t need to follow the ways I’ve been taught all my life,” she spoke softly, “I thought...I thought I was following an honorable man. A good leader. Someone who wanted to help people. I never questioned his orders because he gave me and my group a home. A place to belong. Hybrids are nothing in the Empire, and it felt right to be someone.”

She paused for a moment before Keith felt her hand drift to his arm.

“But you’ve taught me that I should stand up for myself,” she laughed tightly, “You saved me in the Weblum when you had no reason to. You could have left me there because of who I was, but you didn’t. You helped me, after all that I’ve done.”

“Well, everyone deserves a second chance,” Keith shrugged as he leaned more on Shiro, “I’ve had enough people in my life take one look at me and say I’d never get anywhere. All except one.”

Shiro bumped his shoulder again.

“And you took it easy on me. Black told me how you let me get away. I’m…” Keith sighed softly. He wasn’t that great with people, “I’m glad you’ve chosen your own path.”

“I’m glad you’ve shown me the way,” she responded back a bit more fondly. Keith yawned again, bone-tired as he all but sagged onto his best friend who chuckled.

“Time for bed?”

“I guess,” Keith blinked, even though it had no effect on his vision, “It’s been a long day.”

“Just sleep,” Shiro whispered into his ear as Keith began to drift. A hand weaved into his hair, helping him sink deeper, “I’ll be here when you wake up.”

**Author's Note:**

> I don't know if I'll make this into a series yet, but we'll see...


End file.
